Questions Parents ask about Intercepting Tax Refunds

Questions From Parents Who Pay Support

How will I know if my tax refunds have been intercepted?

The U.S. Treasury and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue will mail you a notice when they intercept your refund. The notice will tell you the amount they intercepted and where they
sent the money. You can call the IRS to get more information about your intercepted federal tax refund.

Will my tax refunds be taken to pay birth costs even if I live with the mother of our child?

Yes, if:

the Medicaid or BadgerCare Plus program paid for your child's birth costs, and

the court orders you to pay these costs, and

your case meets the requirements for tax intercept.

What happens if I paid all the past-due child support before my tax refund was intercepted?

The IRS and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue only intercept the reported amount owed at the time they process your tax return. If your intercepted refund is more than the
support amount owed when the Trust Fund gets your intercepted refund, the Trust Fund will immediately send the rest of the refund to you.

If I am paying on my past-due support (or birth costs), will my tax refund(s) still be intercepted?

I owe $500 in past-due support. Why did they take $500 from both my federal and state refund?

Child support sends the names of parents who owe past-due support to both the IRS and the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. If the IRS and State Department of
Revenue process your returns at the same time, both agencies might intercept your refunds. If just one of your refunds pays the entire amount owed, your other refund is immediately
refunded to you upon receipt at the Trust Fund.

I plan on filing a joint return with my spouse. Will the IRS take my spouse's tax refund too?

No, not if you file an Injured Spouse Claim" (IRS form 8379) with your federal joint return. The Injured Spouse
Claim will allow your spouse to receive his or her share of the refund. If you have questions about the Injured Spouse Claim, or if your spouse's portion of a refund was intercepted after you
filed an Injured Spouse Claim, contact the IRS.

You do not need to file an Injured Spouse Claim with your joint Wisconsin state tax return. The state Department of Revenue calculates your share of a joint refund and only intercepts
your share.

Questions From Parents Who Receive Support

When will I receive the child support payment from tax intercept?

First, the parent owing support must file a tax return and have a refund due. Then:

You will usually get the support payment from federal joint returns about six months after the Trust Fund gets the payment.

You will usually receive the support payment from all state refunds and federal non-joint refunds about two days after the Trust Fund receives the tax intercept.

If the paying parent requests a hearing about the tax intercept, the money cannot be sent to you until after the hearing.

How do I find out when I am going to get the tax intercept?

Payments from intercepted tax returns listed on the Child Support Online Services site will list the payment source as "other." The date listed for a federal tax
intercept from a joint return is the date the Trust Fund gets the money. You can expect the payment about six months later.

The Child Support Online Services website is updated every night except Sundays.

Do I pay a fee for getting an intercepted tax refund?

Yes. The fee is 10% of any collection $10 or more. The fee will not be more than $25.

The other parent owes past-due support to more than one family. How much will I get?

The state refund must first pay any current support for all the payer's court orders that are certified for tax intercept. Then any remaining state refund is split among the families
who are owed past-due support and whose cases are certified for tax intercept.